Ruined Town — Middle Zone
With its throat sliced open by a sharp dagger, blood gushed violently as the Tier 1 lower-level Shadow Cat collapsed to the ground.
Behind it, Tang Qi's graceful figure slowly appeared, dagger still in hand.
A layer of purple-black cat-shaped energy covered her body like a cloak.
A pair of cat ears rested atop her head. Even without conscious control, they twitched with remarkable agility.
Enhancement-Type B-Rank Ability — Shadow Cat!
While activated, it greatly enhanced her:
Sprinting speed
Reaction speed
Attack power
It was precisely because of this B-Rank ability that she, despite still being an Awakener, could kill Tier 1 Fierce Beasts.
Of course—
She had also trained in an Ability Cultivation Method.
Although she had not yet fully evolved into an Ability User, her physical foundation was already far superior to ordinary Awakeners.
However—
Killing Tier 1 lower-level beasts was already her limit.
That was why she only moved around within the Middle Zone, never daring to enter the Core Zone, where Tier 1 mid-level beasts dominated.
To conserve ability energy, Tang Qi deactivated her Shadow Cat form immediately after killing the beast.
The cat-shaped energy cloak dissipated.
Her vertical feline pupils returned to normal.
She opened her smartwatch.
12th Place: Tang Qi — 567 points (Jiangcheng First High School)
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"My rank dropped by one."
She instinctively looked upward in the rankings to see who had overtaken her.
But unexpectedly—
At 9th place, she saw a familiar name.
"Second High School's Xu Jingming… 607 points… 9th place?!"
Tang Qi froze slightly.
After several seconds, a tall figure carrying a spear surfaced in her mind.
"So it really was you who caused that attack yesterday… Cousin Jingming."
She had considered the possibility that the Xu Jingming on the ranking board might simply share the same name as her cousin.
But—
Same school.
Same name.
That kind of coincidence was extremely unlikely.
Combined with the suspicion she developed yesterday at the Thunder Dojo, she was now completely certain.
The Xu Jingming on the rankings—
Was her cousin.
"But how did you do all this… with only an E-Rank ability?"
A trace of curiosity flashed across her beautiful face.
"Looks like my cousin isn't as honest and simple as he appears…"
Outer Zone — Another Reaction
"Holy crap, Ming is this strong?!"
"If I had known, I would've just called him Dad and latched onto his leg!"
In the Outer Zone, Liu Jie, whose body had enlarged to twice its normal size, stared at Xu Jingming's ranking on the projection screen with deep regret.
Compared to exam results—
Calling someone "Dad" meant nothing.
Lin Qingyuan's Team
"Xu Jingming made it into the Top 10!"
"That's insane!"
"He's now the highest-ranked student from our Second High School!"
"..."
Ever since discovering Xu Jingming at 46th place, Lin Qingyuan's team had been closely watching his progress.
Seeing him enter the Top 10 now—
All of them were filled with amazement.
How exactly did he do it?
"If Xu Jingming can enter the Top 10, we need to work harder too and try to reach the Top 300!"
Looking at the rankings, Lin Qingyuan's beautiful face showed determination.
Unlike Xu Jingming—
Entering the Top 300 would already satisfy them.
The Exam Grounds — Core Zone Approach
When Xu Jingming had not yet entered the Top 10, his name had not attracted much attention.
But once he broke into the Top 10—
Nearly everyone inside the exam grounds noticed him.
Some who knew him personally reacted in completely different ways.
However—
Xu Jingming himself knew nothing of this.
At this moment, he was sprinting toward the Core Zone with full force.
After his Physique increased, his sprinting speed had improved significantly.
Combined with his relatively close position to the Core Zone—
It took him just thirty minutes to cross into the Core Zone boundary.
Core Zone — Entering Dangerous Territory
The Core Zone of the ruined town had once been the bustling downtown center of Weiyuan Town.
Compared to the Middle Zone:
Buildings were taller
Ruined decorations still hinted at past luxury
The environment felt more dangerous
Most importantly—
The Fierce Beasts here ranged from:
Tier 1 Lower-Level
To Tier 1 Mid-Level
There were no unrated beasts left.
Candidates confident enough to enter the Core Zone were typically at least Top 5 in Jiangcheng.
Of course—
Xu Jingming was an exception.
While traveling, he had not deliberately searched for beasts.
As a result, during those thirty minutes, he had only killed four or five beasts.
His ranking dropped slightly—
To 10th place.
"As long as I find a large beast group, my ranking will rise again quickly."
"This time… I'm going straight for first place!"
Xu Jingming's eyes sharpened.
Just like before—
He headed toward wherever beast roars were the loudest.
"ROAR—"
"HOWL—"
Inside the ruined city, beast cries echoed continuously.
This was a paradise for Fierce Beasts.
After listening carefully—
Xu Jingming chose the southeast direction, where the roars sounded both strongest and densest.
Most candidates moved cautiously inside the exam grounds, afraid that making too much noise would attract beasts and lead to being surrounded.
But Xu Jingming—
Moved like a swift leopard charging through the city.
The 50-kilogram Black Obsidian Spear on his back caused no hindrance whatsoever.
Wind roared past his ears.
Scenery blurred rapidly on both sides.
Occasionally, one or two Fierce Beasts could be seen moving among the ruins.
For such scattered prey—
He didn't even feel the urge to attack.
Soon—
The source of the dense roars drew closer.
At the end of the road stood a heavily rusted, broken city bus, blocking the path.
Yet Xu Jingming did not slow down.
Only when he was about to collide with it did he push off powerfully—
Leaping five to six meters into the air.
BOOM!
His combat boots landed atop the bus roof.
Looking downward—
The scene below unfolded clearly before him.
The Beast Pack Appears
Below was a fitness plaza.
Besides broken workout equipment, numerous Fierce Beasts occupied the area.
There were many of them—
So many that the air was thick with:
Blood scent
Animal stench
Xu Jingming frowned slightly.
"One… two… three…"
"There are ten beasts here—and they're all Arm Blade Tigers."
"Looks like I've encountered an Arm Blade Tiger pack."
Fierce Beasts were divided into:
Pack-type species
Solitary species
Arm Blade Tigers belonged to pack-type beasts.
Ordinary candidates would avoid such groups entirely.
But—
Xu Jingming's cold, sharp eyes burned with excitement.
This—
Was exactly what he wanted.
The King Revealed
"To form a pack like this, there must be a king strong enough to dominate the rest."
Xu Jingming looked toward the center of the plaza.
There—
Lay the half-devoured corpse of a One-Horned Rhino, blood still fresh.
Beside the corpse—
Rested a massive Arm Blade Tiger, noticeably larger than the others.
Its limbs were extremely thick.
The bone blades extending from its forelimbs were enormous and razor-sharp.
"A Tier 1 mid-level Arm Blade Tiger…"
"So this is the king of the pack."
Xu Jingming's lips curled into a faint smile.
If he killed all these beasts—
He would gain a massive number of Ability Points.